West Virginia's state supreme court has granted custody of an 18-month-old girl to a lesbian couple.

The ruling overturns a judge's order that the girl be placed with a heterosexual couple that might adopt her.

The toddler has lived with the lesbian foster couple since shortly after her birth.

The Alliance Defense Fund is asking West Virginia lawmakers to consider an adoption preference law that would give married couples priority in foster and adoption cases.

"What is really down the pike here is basically a judicial determination that all types of families are equal that they are all just as good for children as any other type of parental structure or family structure," explained The Alliance Defense Fund's Byron Babione. "I think if they realize that is where the courts were going with this, they would go to their legislature and tell them what they know and that is children do best when they are raised by a married mother and father."

That adoption preference law would have to be approved by West Virginia's state legislature.